The authors describe the design, intervention, and sample characteristics of the Early Detection, Intervention and Prevention of Psychosis Program (EDIPPP), a large clinical trial funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to test whether Family-Aided Community Treatment (FACT) can delay or prevent the onset of psychosis in at risk young people.

The authors examined a nationally representative group of young people (ages 12 to 25) and their families, assigning them to a clinical high-risk (CHR) or low-risk group based on the severity of their psychosis symptoms. The CHR group received at least one year of FACT, while low-risk families received monthly phone monitoring and had the option of community care.

The study included 337 young people. Eighty-six percent of the CHR group and 78 percent of the low-risk group met the SCID-IV criteria for an axis I disorder at baseline. Close to equal proportions of each group had been hospitalized, received prior outpatient treatment, and had been treated with antipsychotic drugs.

Six sites in four regions of the U.S. successfully took part in an initial test of FACT as a prevention of psychosis. The EDIPPP study has shown that ethnically diverse young people at CHR for psychosis can be identified early, referred to an intervention program, and accept treatment.